BOX SCORE

Junior guard Matt Johnson earned MVP honors adding 13 points Saturday to his 11 on Friday and the Gwynedd-Mercy Griffins (2-0) won the 11th Annual Tom Masano/Sheraton Reading Tip-Off Tournament with an 81-73 win over host Alvernia University (1-3). 

Johnson hit two free throws in the final minute as the Griffins staved off an Alvernia comeback. The Crusaders cut it to four points with under a minute to play, but only managed two free throws in the final ticks while the Griffins hit four free throws and got a layup from Haven Wroten to seal it. 

Sophomore forward Jon Hogga joined Johnson on the All-Tournament Team with Alvernia sophomore Eric Barefield (Ardmore, Pa./Lower Merion) who handed out a career-high 11 assists, junior Nick Rivera (Reading, Pa./Holy Name), Penn State-Berks senior Mark Fowler, and The College of New Jersey junior Aaron Syvertsen. TCNJ topped PSU-Berks 66-56 in the consolation game. 

Alvernia opened up Saturday's game with a Tim Walters (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) 3 on the first possession and ran out to a 7-0 lead, but GMC cut into that and took its first lead when Lemeire Talley knocked a 3 for a 12-10 lead. 

The Griffins rattled off seven straight getting a 3-point play from Hogga to push the lead to eight, 20-12. Alvernia answered back on a 3 from Derek Dubbs (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata), but Tim McCauley cancelled that with a 3 of his own and GMC had its first double digit lead, 25-15 after a pair of Dan DelConte free throws. 

GMC continued to score from the line with four more on the next two possessions for a 13-point lead and when Dave Smith scored on a break the guests were up 14 points, 32-18, their largest lead of the half. 

Alvernia got back-to-back layups from Rivera, who led the way with nine, to pull within 10. He followed a Charlie Hughes (Kenhorst, Pa./Governor Mifflin) 3 with a free throw and the Crusaders closed to within seven, 38-31 with under a minute left in the half. 

Gwynedd-Mercy pushed the lead back to 10, but Walters hit a leaner off the glass for the final bucket of the half to send the Crusaders to the break facing an eight-point deficit. 

Points in the paint were even through the opening half, but GMC outdistanced Alvernia by a combined 10 points in second chance points and points off turnovers. 

Gwynedd-Mercy added to its lead with the first two buckets of the second half, but Alvernia made its first comeback with eight straight points capped by a Hughes 3. The sophomore sharpshooter hit 4-of-7 from behind the arc and his 3 at 8:56 gave Alvernia a 57-56 lead. 

GMC sophomore Jon Crabtree hit his only 3 of the day to answer, and the Crusaders tied the score on a Marcel Roane (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington) layup and again on a Jeff Amponsah (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Carson Long Military Academy) jumper. 

Johnson and Crabtree scored back-to-back for a four-point lead and Hogga hit his second 3 of the night during a 12-3 run that put GMC up nine with 3:36 to play. 

Hughes hit 3-of-4 free throws to pull within six with 1:40 to go and Amponsah scored Alvernia's final four points, all from the free throw line. 

Alvernia will take the holiday off before returning to action against Rowan in a non-conference game at home on December 1. 

Gwynedd-Mercy 81, Alvernia 73